Hebrew word · H6788

צַמֶּ֫רֶת

tzameret

treetop

The crown or topmost shoot of a tree. Used only by Ezekiel.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

treetop

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezekiel 31:3

Range of meaning

The crown or topmost shoot of a tree. Used only by Ezekiel.

Against the English

'Top' (KJV, BSB) is accurate but flat. It hides the link to Ezekiel's other cedar parables.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel 17:3, 22: an eagle plucks the ṣammeret of a cedar of Lebanon (King Jehoiachin carried to Babylon), and God himself will plant a tender shoot from the ṣammeret on a high mountain (a future Davidic king). In 31:10 and 14 the word comes back in the verdict.

From the study of Ezekiel 17:22

Range of meaning

The leafy crown or top of a tall tree. It may be related to tsemer, 'wool', picturing the tree's thick, fleecy top of foliage. That would explain YLT's rendering 'foliage'.

Against the English

KJV 'highest branch', BSB/WEB 'lofty top', YLT 'foliage'. All are reasonable. 'Branch' slightly narrows a word that means the whole crown of the tree.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only in Ezekiel: 17:3, 17:22, and three times in ch. 31 (31:3, 10, 14), where the 'crown' of the Assyrian or Egyptian cedar reaching into the clouds is a picture of royal arrogance (per HALOT, BDB).

Where it appears

Ezekiel · 5

  1. Ezekiel 17:3 צַמֶּ֥רֶת [the] treetop of

    and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.

  2. Ezekiel 17:22 מִצַּמֶּ֧רֶת from [the] treetop of

    This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar, and I will set it out. I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

    Here: 'From' here means 'some of': a piece taken from the leafy crown of the tree. It is the same rare word as in v. 3, where the eagle carried off the crown, meaning King Jehoiachin.

  3. Ezekiel 31:3 צַמַּרְתּֽוֹ׃ treetop its

    Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.

    Here: 'Its crown,' the topmost shoot. The word appears only in Ezekiel (17:3, 22; 31:3, 10, 14), always for the top of a cedar standing for a king or dynasty.

  4. Ezekiel 31:10 צַמַּרְתּוֹ֙ treetop its

    Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height,

  5. Ezekiel 31:14 צַמַּרְתָּם֙ treetop their

    This happened so that no other trees by the waters would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the depths of the earth, among the mortals who descend to the Pit.’

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.